FALL 2013 FEATURES

Educated Travelers

FALL 2012By William Meiners

To spur his students to global exploration, Liping Cai,
professor of hospitality and tourism management,
often shares a quote from St. Augustine. "The world is a
great book," the theologian philosophized, "of which they
that never stir from home read only a page." In that context,
Purdue's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management
(HTM) is helping to produce some voracious readers.

Consider Jenny (Jiyeon) Lee (HTM '00). Now a professor in
the Australian School of Business and program director in
services marketing tourism at the University of New South
Wales, Lee earned her first degree in science education
in her native Seoul, South Korea. "I taught chemistry and
earth science at a Korean high school for a year, but wasn't
very challenged," Lee says. "I wanted a bigger place where I
wouldn't have limitations on my life."

Purdue's internationally top-ranked HTM program allowed
Lee to learn in the Crossroads of America. Lee's global perspective
changed by coming overseas. She has since visited
almost every U.S. state and many countries in Europe. After
Purdue, internships at the Hilton and Marriott gave her critical
insight into tourism operations.

Cai, also director of Purdue's Tourism and Hospitality
Research Center, says the increasingly global nature of the
travel business has created career opportunities for HTM
students. "There is a new wave of U.S.-based multinational
hospitality and tourism firms aggressively entering new
markets for expansion and growth," he says. "Last year,
Marriott International signed its 100th hotel in China and
plans to open a hotel in that country every month for at
least the next three years."

With the global marketplace in mind, HTM students often
travel. The school claims the highest percentage of its
students in the college who take advantage of international
learning experiences. Those opportunities range from
spring break field trips to six-month internships.

Katey Wheeler, an HTM senior, worked for six months as
a guest relations intern for Shangri-La Hotel, Qingdao,
China. The half-year changed her life. "I had to catch on to
their language very quickly," says Wheeler, who plans to
return to the company. "Luckily, I had my iPhone and used a
Chinese/English dictionary."

For an academic like Lee, the global experience informs her
worldview. "My travel experiences are often integrated into
my teaching and research," says Lee, who looks at tourism
marketing through the eyes of a tourist, specifically from a
psychological and behavioral standpoint.

Cai, also the associate dean for diversity and international
programs, noted Lee's dedication on a visit to New South
Wales. "She's truly concerned for the intellectual and personal
growth of her students."

Though she still travels to the U.S. regularly, Lee feels right
at home as a professor in Sydney. "There's a unique mindset
in Australia. We have centralized decision-making like many
Asian countries, but equality and harmony are important
among colleagues and within the classroom. It's really a
mixture of Eastern and Western culture."

That harmonic accord suits the world traveler just fine. As
for Wheeler and others following in her footsteps, whether
in business or academia, Cai says: "To better serve tourists,
our students need to be educated travelers themselves."